1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a composition of a hydroxy acid-based oligomer (A) and a drug (B), wherein the oligomer (A) has a lactic acid unit useful as a base material for sustained releasing a drug, and holds a fluidity to enable itself to be injected, further, when the oligomer (A) is supplied into water, it is insoluble and does not show an acidity.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, there has been present an approach that a biological and absorbable polymer is applied to DDS (drug delivery system). The DDS is a system in which the biological and absorbable polymer is used as a base material and the polymer sustainedly releases a drug in according with a proper manner. As an example of the system, there is a method in which a micro sphere of drug is formed by using the biological and absorbable polymer.
Examples of this biological and absorbable polymer include poly-xcex1-hydroxy acids such as polylactic acid (PLA) and polyglycolic acid (PGA). Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 64824/1987 discloses a method that glycolide (GLD) which is a cyclic dimer of glycolic acid and lactide (LTD) which is a cyclic dimer of lactic acid are subjected to ring-opening polymerization to thereby obtain a low-molecular weight polydispersive lactic acid-glycolic acid copolymer (PLGA) which is useful as the basic material for sustainedly releasing a drug. However, in the DDS utilizing the conventional biological and absorbable polymer, every polymer to be used is solid at ordinary temperature, and hence, there is required a contrivance that micro-spheres are dispersed in a dispersion medium such as pure water and then used for injection.
On the other hand, German-A1-3716302 discloses that the biological and absorbable polymer is not used as the micro-spheres but as an absorbable bone wax for a polyester oligomer comprising glycolic acid or lactic acid and glycerin. Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No.5725881 discloses a mixture of an amorphous and viscous oligomer based on lactic acid having a number-average molecular weight of less than 600 and a crystalline oligomer or polymer based on lactic acid having a number-average molecular weight of from 600 to 10000, i.e., an absorbable material which is plastically deformable and biologically adaptable.
In the technical field of the DDS, however, a base material has been desired that can be mixed with a drug and then injected directly orally (dentistry) or hypodermically by a syringe or the like and has a function of sustainedly releasing a drug component. If a polymer which is used as the base material is acidic (e.g., pH=less than 5) in an organism (under water-soluble conditions), there is a fear that the base material gives rise to irritation, inflammation or the like in the organism. In view of this point, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 221871/1993 discloses a polypeptide medicament which comprises a polypeptide stable to an acid and a polymer or a copolymer of lactic acid and glycolic acid and which is pharmaceutically active and stable to the acid.
The problems of these conventional techniques can be summarized as follows.
(i) In the case of a hydroxy acid-based oligomer, if a carboxyl group at its molecular terminal is not esterified, the oligomer shows an acidity less than pH 5 when added to distilled water or physiologic saline. Therefore, when such a hydroxy acid-based oligomer is used as the base material and is mixed with a drug, and is administered into an organism, there is a fear that it shows an acidity in the organism and hence causes irritation, inflammation or the like occurs.
(ii) With regard to the hydroxy acid-based oligomer, if the carboxyl group at its molecular terminal is not esterified, its water-solubility is usually high. Therefore, even when such a hydroxy acid-based oligomer is used as the base material and is mixed with a drug, and is administered into an organism, clearance is too rapid, so that a sustained releasable effect of drug cannot be expected.
(iii) A certain kind of hydroxy acid-based oligomer which has no fluidity cannot pass through a needle of a syringe at room temperature (25xc2x0 C.), so that it cannot be used as the sustained releasable base material for a physiologically active substance.
An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems of the conventional techniques, concretely to provide a medical composition having the following advantages.
(i) When the medical composition is administered into an organism (inclusive of an oral cavity), a base material does not show an acidity (e.g., less that pH 5), so that irritation, inflammation or the like scarcely occurs.
(ii) The base material is suitably insoluble, so that clearance can be prolonged and hence the sustained releasable effect of drug can be exerted.
(iii) Since the base material shows fluidity at room temperature (25xc2x0 C.), the medical composition can be administered into the organism by a syringe or the like.
The present inventors have intensively investigated with the intention of achieving the above object, and as a result, it has been found that when a specified hydroxy acid-based oligomer (A) in which the carboxyl group at a molecular terminal is esterified is used, there can be obtained a medical composition which has fluidity at ordinary temperature, is suitably water-insoluble, does not show an acidity in an organism, and particularly has a good sustained releasability. In consequence, the present invention has been completed.
That is to say, the present invention is directed to a medical composition comprising a hydroxy acid-based oligomer (A) and a drug (B), wherein the hydroxy acid-based oligomer (A) is an oligomer in which the carboxylic acid-terminals are at least partially esterified, and the oligomer (A) has a function of becoming pH 5 to 8 when administered into an organism, and the oligomer (A) shows fluidity at 25xc2x0 C.
A hydroxy acid-based oligomer (A) for use in the present invention has a function of becoming pH 5 to 8 when administered into an organism. Therefore, when a medical composition of the present invention is administered into the organism (inclusive of an oral cavity), it does not become come acidic (less than pH 5), so that a problem of irritation or inflammation which is caused by a low pH scarcely occurs. Thus, the medical composition including the hydroxy acid-based oligomer (A) is very useful as a sustained releasable medical composition.
In the present invention, judgement as to whether or not the hydroxy acid-based oligomer (A) becomes pH 5 to 8 when administered into the organism can pretendedly be made by adding 10 g of a sample to 100 g of distilled water, and then measuring a pH at 37xc2x0 C. In addition to such a way using distilled water, the judgement can be made by a pretended technique such as (i) a way which comprises adding 10 g of a sample to 100 g of a 0.9% NaCl solution, and then measuring a pH at 37xc2x0 C., (ii) a way which comprises adding 10 g of a sample to 100 g of a 0.1 N phosphoric acid (pH 7.3) buffer solution, and then measuring a pH at 37xc2x0 C., or (iii) a way which comprises adding 10 g of a sample to 100 g of physiologic saline, and then measuring a pH at 37xc2x0 C.
A preferable embodiment of the hydroxy acid-based oligomer (A) for use in the present invention, is a oligomer having
a repeating unit represented by the following chemically structural formula (1) and/or a repeating unit represented by the following chemically structural formula (2) as at least a part of repeating units,
xe2x80x94R in the following chemically structural formula (3) and/or xe2x80x94R in the following chemically structural formula (4) as one of at least a part of molecular terminals, and
xe2x80x94OH in the following chemically structural formula (5) and/or xe2x80x94OH in the following chemically structural formula (6) as another of at least a part of molecular terminals: 
in the chemically structural formulae (3) and (4), each R is independently an alkyl group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms;
and the oligomer (A) simultaneously satisfies all of the following equations (I) to (V)
0xe2x89xa6mxe2x80x83xe2x80x83(I)
0xe2x89xa6nxe2x80x83xe2x80x83(II)
2xe2x89xa6(n+m)xe2x89xa630xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(III)
                    0        ≦                              (                          m                              n                +                m                                      )                    xc3x97          100                ≦        75                            (        IV        )                                25        ≦                              (                          n                              n                +                m                                      )                    xc3x97          100                ≦        100                            (        V        )            
wherein m is the number of the repeating unit represented by the above chemically structural formula (1), and n is the number of the repeating unit represented by the above chemically structural formula (2) in one molecule of the oligomer.
In the hydroxy acid-based oligomer (A), 70 mol % or more of the total carboxyl group terminals are preferably esterified with xe2x80x94R in the chemically structural formulae (3) and/or (4), and 70 mol % or more of the other molecular terminals are preferably xe2x80x94OH in the chemically structural formulae (5) and/or (6).
When 10 g of the hydroxy acid-based oligomer (A) for use in the present invention is added to 100 g of distilled water or physiologic saline, preferably 30% by weight or more, more preferably 50% by weight or more, of the oligomer (A) is insoluble at 37xc2x0 C. Here, no particular restriction is put on a technique for separating an insoluble fraction alone from the hydroxy acid-based oligomer (A), but a technique such as decantation, filtration or centrifugal separation can be utilized. If the amount of insoluble fraction of the hydroxy acid-based oligomer (A) is within the above range, clearance can be suitably prolonged when it is administered into the organism, so that an effect of sustainedly releasing a drug (B) can be increased.
The hydroxy acid-based oligomer (A) for use in the present invention shows fluidity at 25xc2x0 C. Usually, the oligomer (A) is in a starch syrup state or a gel state, or it is an amorphous polymer.
The fluidity referred to in the present invention can be confirmed as follows: At 25xc2x0 C., 20 ml of the hydroxy acid-based oligomer is sucked by a 50 ml syringe cylinder (made by Terumo Co., Ltd., disposable type) to which a syringe needle is not set, and then the syringe needle [made by Terumo Co., Ltd., Neolus 21Gxc3x971.5 inch (0.80xc3x9738 mm)] is set to the syringe cylinder, and afterward, a piston is pushed under an extrusion pressure of 20 kg/cm2 or less by a syringe pump, and at this time, it is observed whether or not the hydroxy acid-based oligomer is completely extruded like a usual injection without any clogging of the syringe needle. In the present invention, the hydroxy acid-based oligomer which can be completely extruded by this procedure (extrusion pressure=20 kg/cm2 or less) is recognized to show the fluidity. In this procedure, it can be considered that the lower the extrusion pressure for the complete extrusion is, the higher the fluidity is. The extrusion pressure for the complete extrusion is preferably 10 kg/cm2 or less, more preferably 5 kg/cm2 or less, most preferably 1 kg/cm2 or less.
The confirmation of the fluidity can also be made by a technique other than the above procedure. For example, a glass plate having length of 500 mmxc3x97width of 200 mm set at an angle of 60xc2x0 to a horizontal surface is spotted at a position 50 mm away from the top end of this glass plate with 1 g of the hydroxy acid-based oligomer, and a time taken for the lower end of the falling oligomer to move as much as 10 mm or more from the spot position is then measured to evaluate the fluidity. This time is preferably 30 minutes or less, more preferably 10 minutes or less, and most preferably 1 minute or less.
In the case that the hydroxy acid-based oligomer (A) for use in the present invention is a copolymer, it is preferably a random copolymer. In comparison with a block copolymer, the random copolymer is excellent in the fluidity.
No particular restriction is put on a preparation method of the hydroxy acid-based oligomer (A). Its typical examples include the following methods (i) to (iv).
(i) A method which comprises heating a lactate such as ethyl lactate, followed by dealcohol condensation.
(ii) A method which comprises reacting a lactide with an alcohol such as ethanol in an amount of 3 to 50 mol % with respect to the total mol of glycolide under substantially water-free conditions to subject the lactide and glycolide to a ring-opening-polymerization. Here, the above substantially water-free conditions mean that the amount of water is 5 mol % or less, preferably 1 mol % or less with respect to the total mol of the lactide and glycolide.
(iii) A method which comprises heating a mixture of a lactate such as ethyl lactate and at least one selected from the group consisting of lactic acid, glycolic acid, lactide, glycolide and glycolate to obtain a copolymer (oligomer).
(iv) A method which comprises mixing two or more kinds of hydroxy acid-based oligomers independently prepared.
In the preparation method of the hydroxy acid-based oligomer (A), a catalyst may be used or may not be used. If the curtailment of a polymerization time is desired, it is preferable to use the catalyst. No particular restriction is put on the kind of catalyst, but for example, tin octanoate, stannous oxide and stannic oxide are preferable. Furthermore, in the above methods (ii) and (iii), the catalyst does not particularly have to be used in the case that the hydroxy acid-based oligomer is obtained by polymerizing the lactide and glycolide.
In the preparation method of the hydroxy acid-based oligomer (A), a reaction temperature is usually in the range of 100 to 200xc2x0 C., preferably 140 to 180xc2x0 C., more preferably 150 to 170xc2x0 C. In the above method (ii), however, it is preferred that the reaction is carried out at a temperature which is decided in consideration of the boiling point of the alcohol to be used, and for example, the reaction may be performed under pressure by the use of an autoclave or the like. In the case that the reaction temperature is higher than the boiling point of the alcohol, it is preferable to use a large amount of the alcohol (e.g., in an amount of 30 to 100 mol % based on the total mol of the lactide and glycolide), because the thus obtained hydroxy acid-based oligomer tends not to show an acidity. In addition, if a meso form lactide is used, the hydroxy acid-based oligomer can be obtained at a temperature lower than the above preferable reaction temperature.
The hydroxy acid-based oligomer (A) for use in the present invention is usually an oligomer containing moieties having different polymerization degrees and a certain molecular weight distribution. Therefore, the numbers m and n of the above repeating units are represented by average values. Furthermore, the weight-average molecular weight of the hydroxy acid-based oligomer (A) is preferably in the range of 200 to 3000 in consideration of fluidity, solubility, viscosity and the like at room temperature (e.g., 25xc2x0 C.).
The medical composition of the present invention comprises the above hydroxy acid-based oligomer (A) and a drug (B). The amount of the drug (B) is preferably in the range of 0.01 to 100 parts by weight, more preferably 0.01 to 50 parts by weight with respect to 100 parts by weight of the hydroxy acid-based oligomer (A).
No particular restriction is put on the drug (B) for use in the present invention. Typical examples of the drug (B) include medicines and physiologically active substances, and they also include substances, compounds and mixtures which are active to human, animals or plants. That is to say, concrete examples of the drug (B) include not only medicines and physiologically active substances but also agricultural chemicals, cosmetics, fertilizers and the like. In particular, it is very effective to apply the present invention to the drug (B) which is difficult to be absorbed by the human, the animal or the plant and whose activity deteriorates in a short time. Furthermore, it is also very effective to apply the present invention to the drug (B) having a low clearance which is metabolized in an organism to permit the deterioration of its concentration in blood in a short time.
Next, the present invention will be described in more detail in accordance with examples and comparative examples. However, the description of synthetic examples, embodiments, examples and the like in the specification of the present application is for the assistance of the understanding of the contents of the present invention, and it should not be a cause to limit the technical scope of the present invention.
In addition, the weight-average molecular weight (Mw) and the molecular distribution (Mw/Mn) of the hydroxy acid-based oligomer (A) in the examples are values measured by gel permeation chromatography (GPC, solvent=chloroform, standard=polystyrene).